Rockville or Silver Spring or... what? (Frederick, Hyattsville: coupons, rental, insurance)

[pink_melodies]

Hello there, I'm a DC native but moved at 13. Didn't know too much about rents and utilities and everything else adult. Now that I have 2 boys (2 and 4) with a husband and no opportunity in a "suburb" of Philly, I'm looking to move back.

My father is still in DC so he agreed to help my husband and I get a job there. He lives in NE, so I'm looking for somewhere close but not in DC.

How much would a family of 4 need to bring in for a 2-3 bdrm townhouse/single family home and all the add ons (daycare, utils, auto, etc)? Also are the schools good in the area? What about a commute to inside DC for work?

[scrapper105]

Hi there -

There are some nice areas in/near historic Hyattsville or in Riverdale Park that a family could probably afford on $80K per year with 1 kid in public school and 1 kid in daycare. That's assuming that you live a relatively simple lifestyle w/o fancy cars, eating out infrequently, willing to clip coupons, shop at thrift stores, etc. Hyattsville is a reasonable distance from DC and access to the metro, etc.

Bear in mind that I am talking about the actual city of Hyattsville that are zoned for the elementary school of Hyattsville Elementary or Riverdale Park that is zoned for Riverdale Park Elementary School. I'm not referring to the unincorporated areas of PG County that are frequently referred to as Hyattsville, but are not in the city of Hyattsville.

Some of the comments on this board come from posters who are perpetuating stereotypes or who lived in PG County 15 years ago. So, please do your own research and take everyone's comments with a grain of salt. I've posted before on criteria for selecting neighborhoods and schools, so that might be helpful in getting started.

[pink_melodies]

Originally Posted by scrapper105

Hi there -

There are some nice areas in/near historic Hyattsville or in Riverdale Park that a family could probably afford on $80K per year with 1 kid in public school and 1 kid in daycare. That's assuming that you live a relatively simple lifestyle w/o fancy cars, eating out infrequently, willing to clip coupons, shop at thrift stores, etc. Hyattsville is a reasonable distance from DC and access to the metro, etc.

Bear in mind that I am talking about the actual city of Hyattsville that are zoned for the elementary school of Hyattsville Elementary or Riverdale Park that is zoned for Riverdale Park Elementary School. I'm not referring to the unincorporated areas of PG County that are frequently referred to as Hyattsville, but are not in the city of Hyattsville.

Some of the comments on this board come from posters who are perpetuating stereotypes or who lived in PG County 15 years ago. So, please do your own research and take everyone's comments with a grain of salt. I've posted before on criteria for selecting neighborhoods and schools, so that might be helpful in getting started.

Thanks scrapper. I will stalk your posts in a while :-) Wow, $80K clipping coupons? I may not make it down there.... I doubt my husband and I could find $50K jobs individually.... ugh.

[bonnielisabeth]

We rent a nice 3 bedroom townhome about 20 minutes drive to Glenmont Metro, technically Silver Spring but really "out there" not anywhere down the downtown. The neighborhood is reasonably safe, with mostly property crime.

Rental cost: 2000
Utility bills: gas or electric can go up to 300.00 per month for the peak use months in Winter and Summer, usually around 100-150 a month; water is about 100 - 120 every three months. Utilities cost much more than I was used to for a 2500 SFH!

Don't have kids, so don't know about that...

You might want to call your insurance company to see how much it would cost to insure your car in MD--we received a high costings surprise; although MD does not have a yearly property tax on autos like VA, you still get hit with a one time assessment (based on the value of your car) when you move here.

When we moved here, it was difficult to find a decent townhome rental in the Montgomery County burbs for less than 2000; that may have changed... Rents were cheaper in PG County.

We clip coupons, rarely go out to eat, and mostly partake in free entertainment...there are lots of museums in DC (for the price a metro ride) and lots of parks and libraries.

fyi: Median family income in Montgomery County MD is in the 90,000 range. That is just an average family...nothing special. We make in the mid-90s, and are living paycheck to paycheck.

You may want to compare costs with VA; some of the outer suburbs may be cheaper to live in and you could take the VRE train to work in DC from places like Fredericksburg. In Maryland they have the MARC train, which is similar. A lot of folks live really far out (Frederick, etc...) on the MARC line to lower their housing costs.